


Potion Lessons

by sinelanguage



Category: Lego Elves: Secrets of Elvendale (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, F/F, five times fic, post season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 06:02:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12052830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinelanguage/pseuds/sinelanguage
Summary: When Naida agreed to Rosalyn’s offer of potion lessons, she was a bit… apprehensive. It wasn’t like she and Rosalyn were on the best footing, after all. And while the lessons do turn out to be more than what she expected, it's not in a bad way.





	Potion Lessons

How much cloudberry had Rosalyn said to add? Just a tad? All her measurements were so imprecise; a smidge of this, a glop of that. Sure, Naida understood that measuring tools weren’t useful in a pinch, but they sure were useful as a teaching aid.

Still, she had to have measured this correctly. It looked like just about the amount Rosalyn had added to her potion, and that had turned it from a bright ocean blue to a deep night sky purple. Not doubting herself anymore than she already had, Naida poured her crushed berry juice into flask and hoped for the best. 

The red juice dispersed into the blue potion, little streams of juice reaching out to the side. Slowly, Naida swirled the bottle, watching as the potion shimmered and sparkled, turning a wonderful purple. It bubbled, and it bubbled some more, and then it started bubbling over, the deep purple changing into a sickly dark green.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Rosalyn said, leaning over her to inspect Naida’s potion. She was close enough Naida could feel the huff of breath from Rosalyn’s tutting on the back of her neck. “Just a bit too much cloudberry juice.”

Naida swirled the mixture in its bottle, watching as the liquid turned into a murky sludge. Ugh, she hated it when Rosalyn was right. “I can see that,” she muttered, and swirled the glass a bit harder, as if that could undo her mistake. “How much was I supposed to add again?”

“Just a tad, but--”

Without thinking, Naida cut her off. “A  _ tad _ ,” she huffed. 

“--yes, a tad,” Rosalyn said, her tone defensive. Oh, Naida knew not to annoy Rosalyn, she didn’t need another lecture on the merits of not using measuring cups. Naida’s certain she was going to get one, too, until Rosalyn surprised her. 

“I wasn’t very clear,” Rosalyn said. She mulled over her next words. “Add the juice incrementally-- the potion’s finicky. I didn’t add all the tad I’d measured out.”

Then, Rosalyn grabbed her own flask, her potion still a beautiful blue. Holding it up between Naida and herself, she added her own cloudberry juice, much slower than she had the first time. 

“You add just enough, until the juice reaches the end of the glass,” Rosalyn said, as one of the streams of cloudberry juice had done just that, “And then you stop adding. That way, you have just enough juice to react with the mintleaf, but not enough to set off the crystal dust.”

And just like Rosalyn said, the mixture reacted perfectly; the potion turned a royal, shimmering purple. Rosalyn set the flask on the table, then looked back at Naida. “Does that make more sense?”

“Well, maybe. It makes more sense than a tad,” Naida said.

It was a biting remark-- maybe more biting than Rosalyn deserved, really-- but if Rosalyn noticed, she ignored it. Instead, she grabbed the last bottle of unfinished potion, and handed it to Naida. 

“Here, try it again,” Rosalyn said. “It should work out.”

This was their last bottle of the base mixture-- and that mixture was tricky, too. At least the instructions were a bit better than a tad. “If you say so,” Naida said, looking for the rest of her cloudberry mixture. 

Rosalyn watched her with a focused expectation that made Naida more nervous than she should be. It was just-- it was just potion making. She’d made plenty of potions harder and trickier than this before. Just not this specific one. 

Letting out an uncertain breath, Naida began to carefully pour her tad of juice into the potion flask. She watched the streams of red closely, and just as one had hit the outside of the glass, she pulled her hand away.

Naida didn’t really want to look at Rosalyn until she was certain, this time, her potion had worked, but she could see a bit of Rosalyn’s expression through her flask-- a smile, she thought with relief. And then, the potion turned a deep purple, just like Rosalyn’s had, and Naida laughed. 

“So did that make more sense than a tad?” Rosalyn asked; it was a bit cheeky, sure, but there was almost an uncertainness to the question, too, like Rosalyn really didn’t know the answer. 

Rosalyn wasn’t the best teacher, maybe-- but maybe she knew that. It wasn’t like she wasn’t trying. “It made a lot more sense than a tad,” said Naida, and Rosalyn smiled. Naida smiled in return, and swirled the successful potion in front of her. 

* * *

 

Maybe she should have started teaching Rosalyn with an easier potion, but Naida really wanted to show her that she knew her stuff. Instead of feeling vindicated, though, Naida just felt nervous. Rosalyn had a persistent gaze on her the whole time, like she was criticizing Naida’s every move, and it made Naida second guess everything she was doing, even peel fruits.

Peeling heartfruit shouldn’t be a difficult task. She’d been doing it since she was young; it was one of the first potions-making tasks she could help her mother with. But peeling heartfruit as Rosalyn watched was a bit more difficult than Naida had anticipated, and they hadn’t even gotten to the potion-making yet.

Naida was almost done with her set of heartfruit when Rosalyn asked, “Why do you start in the middle?”

Finicking with the heartfruit in her hand, Naida responded, “Oh, that-- my mother taught me that. You get a cleaner peel that way.”

Naida unpeeled the second heartfruit, using the same technique again, while Rosalyn investigated with that piercing, nerve-wrecking gaze of hers. Then, in a smoother motion than Naida had even done, Rosalyn unpeeled the heartfruit and set it next to her previous one.

“That is a smoother peel,” Rosalyn said, and Naida felt an unexpected pride in that comment.

The rest of the lesson went-- well, it went rather well. Naida wasn’t expecting it to-- Rosalyn wasn’t a good teacher, really, but she was a much better listener. Naida didn’t have to explain herself more than once, and she eventually got used to Rosalyn’s probing questions. They were more curious than critical, so she didn’t have to be so defensive to them.

Still-- it wasn’t an easy potion to make, and Naida probably should have started with an easier lesson at first. Maybe she should have started with something more first level potions, but she really wanted to prove to Rosalyn she knew her stuff. She didn’t expect the fact that Rosalyn already knew that, and Naida didn’t have to prove anything to her.

By the last step, Naida thought Rosalyn would make it on her first try, and she nearly did, but she didn’t let the potion set. 

Before Naida could explain the utmost importance of letting it set, Rosalyn proved why it was important in the first place. She tapped the bottle, and Naida held her breath as the green potion bubbled gently, then exploded in a whoosh of bright fumes. They dispersed quickly, leaving Rosalyn with a mess of undone hair and colorful dust scattering across her face. 

Naida winced, waiting for some uncomfortable reaction, but instead, Rosalyn laughed lightly, wiping the dust from her face. “You’re supposed to let it rest, I take it,” she said. 

“Just for a bit,” said Naida, trying not to smile.

After cleaning up, Rosalyn picked herself up fast and started over the whole process. It was a long list of tasks, but she didn’t seem too perturbed by it. In fact, Rosalyn’s demuner during the whole process was rather unexpected to Naida. She thought Rosalyn would be pricklier to suggestions, and condescending, and closed off, and difficult to work with, but she… wasn’t. 

Maybe Naida was being too hard on her. She knew that getting along would be easier, without the threat of the goblin king and without Rosalyn’s layers upon layers of secrets and whatnot, but she was still always assuming things wouldn’t work out. 

Maybe Rosalyn just left a bad first impression, and now that they were… well, now that they were kind of friends, it should be easier. She didn’t have to worry about Rosalyn not respecting her, since clearly she did, so maybe she didn’t have to worry about everything else, either. Maybe she could finally peel back the rest of Rosalyn’s secrets, too.

Rosalyn had nearly completed her second try at the potion-- she just needed to let it set again. Naida should wait to ask until the potion’s completed, but now she doesn’t want to.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Naida started. Maybe she really shouldn’t ask this, but Rosalyn looked receptive, so she continued on. “How have you and Cronan been doing?”

Rosalyn’s expression change in an instant; her openness turned to a blank, controlled expression, and she grappled with a response.

“Oh, we’re… fine,” said Rosalyn, her voice pinched. She tapped the bottle in her hands, and the greenish liquid bubbled. She shook her head, set the bottle down, and continued. “The goblins are still very fond of him. He’s been helping them improve their village.”

Now that wasn’t even a subtle diversion. 

“I wasn’t asking about the goblins,” Naida said. “I was asking about you two.”

It wasn’t a difficult question, and besides, Naida was certain they were friends. Rosalyn should trust her with this, at the least. But Rosalyn didn’t seem to give in, though, and didn’t answer at all. “I thought, maybe, you know, since he stopped being the Goblin King, and you’d forgiven him, that--”

“Things can’t be the way they were before,” Rosalyn interrupted, looking a bit fraught. “I… I’m afraid I don’t want to get into it, right now.”

Naida hadn’t noticed how carefree the whole lesson was, until it wasn’t, anymore. Everything was tense when Naida left, and they didn’t even use up all the ingredients they had. It was frustrating, how quickly everything had turned sour, and how little of it made sense.

* * *

Chopping up root wasn’t the most difficult task, and it wasn’t very fun. Especially since neither she nor Rosalyn really interacted-- instead, they simply… occupied the same space. It was less of a potion lesson, and more of a shared worked bench. The silence was uncomfortable, and Naida missed Rosalyn’s attentiveness, and even her vague instructions.

Without much pretense, Rosalyn set her own knife down on the table with a loud clang. Naida tried to look over discretely, but when she did, Rosalyn easily caught her gaze. Forcing a smile, Naida looked away and returned to her root chopping. 

“Naida, I…” Rosalyn started, then took a deep breath. “I should explain myself,” she said. “I don’t think that… the question you asked wasn’t…”

It was enough to get Naida to stop chopping roots, but if she wanted to meet Rosalyn’s gaze, she couldn’t, now. “It’s been harder to patch things up with Cronan than I expected,” she said. Then, she added a bit quieter, “And I don’t know if I can.”

Oh, that sounded more complicated than Naida had expected. “Rosalyn,” Naida said, but Rosalyn shook her head. 

“And I shouldn’t have taken it out on you,” she said, cutting off the potential for Naida to understand what was actually wrong. 

That was… frustrating. It was an apology, but it was frustrating. Every time Rosalyn seemed to talk about her own feelings, she’d just… dodge around it. Rosalyn’s secrets weren’t nefarious, but they were still secrets. Rosalyn’s problems were still vague, and she really didn’t want to open up about it, but… well, maybe prying into it would create more problems than solve them. 

Naida set a hand on Rosalyn’s shoulder. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’ve done a good job patching things up with me,” she said. 

“Oh, I-- I have? After last time, I…”

“That’s-- well, it’s a work in progress,” Naida said, waving a hand. Rosalyn had been trying-- and Naida wasn’t giving her enough credit. “I mean… when we first set up potion lessons, I thought you’d be much ruder.”

That got much more of a reaction; Rosalyn even looked a bit miffed.

“First level potions,” Naida said a bit sing song, and Rosalyn sighed.

“But you’ve been getting better, and I really enjoy spending time with you,” Naida continued. “So I’m glad that, uh, that’s been cleared up.” It felt a bit weird to say; Naida hadn’t been this open with Rosalyn, really, so maybe it was understandable that Rosalyn wasn’t that open with her. 

Maybe Rosalyn’s not the only work in progress, here.

“I, thank you,” Rosalyn said, her voice pinched again. She put a hair behind her ears. “I really enjoy our time together, too.”

* * *

Naida hadn’t noticed a lot of things about Rosalyn before, but she’s beginning to pay attention much better, and it’s both making Naida less nervous than she was before, but more nervous than she was before.

Rosalyn’s attentive wasn’t critical, but it was still attentive. Naida didn’t need to prove herself because Rosalyn doubted her-- Rosalyn trusted her. She trusted her potion-making judgements, at the least. And while the trust was a relief, it also meant Naida wanted to live up to that trust, which was much more nerve-wrecking than she’d anticipated. 

But, in the end, it was nice, really. And it made Naida feel like she should have placed a bit more trust in Rosalyn from the beginning. She normally assumed the best in people, but with Rosalyn, she always just assumed the worst. 

She should really say something, before she lost that train of thought. They were nearly done with the lesson of the day, just finishing cleaning up Rosalyn’s work station, and Naida didn’t have long before she would have to return to Elvendale. 

“Rosalyn, I’ve been meaning to say, I,” Naida started. Rosalyn looked up, and Naida had to search for her words again. “I’m sorry for not really trusting you,” she said. “I know it worked out in the end, but I keep always assuming the worst in you, and I…”

Naida trailed off; Rosalyn had made a noise, and it took a second to realize it was a light laugh. It was weird, and enough to caught Naida off guard. 

“Ah, I don’t fault you for not trusting me,” Rosalyn said. “I understand that. I understand that more than the opposite, really.”

Naida didn’t know what to say. Should she push the issue more? Would Rosalyn just deflect again? She didn’t know-- she felt like she was on uneven footing. “I trust you now though, I think,” Naida said. That was open enough for Rosalyn to respond-- and honest, too. “I really do.”

A long pause stretched between them; Rosalyn did not respond to that. Not for a while, anyway. 

“I want to say the same, but…” Rosalyn paused, giving Naida a long look. “I do trust you, I just-- I doubt my own judgement on that. My judgements have been proven to be wrong before.”

Oh. “I-- I know, but…” Naida said. “I mean-- you weren’t wrong to think Cronan was good, if that’s what this is about.” Rosalyn looked away; that was what this was about. “I just-- I thought it was better now,” Naida said.

“It is better now, it’s just,” Rosalyn sighed. “I did forgive him, and I still do understand that I should trust him, and all of you,” she said. “But after everything, especially with him, I… I’m still always prepared for the worst in people. It’s a tricky habit to break.”

Rosalyn rubbed the back of her neck, and finally met Naida’s gaze. “That’s why it’s been so hard to patch things up,” she said. “You can forgive someone, but it’s still so difficult to live in the shadow of their misdoings.”

Naida swallowed, and looked away. “Oh,” she said. She didn’t know what else to say. It explained a lot-- sure-- but Naida thought, maybe, she’d find a way to help Rosalyn from this conversation. Not just be stuck with the fact that trust is difficult. 

Before Naida can figure out what to say, Rosalyn said quietly, “It’s kind of a relief to talk about it with you.”

But maybe Naida didn’t need to say anything more. “I’m glad you did,” she said. 

* * *

“Are you sure your recipe’s correct?” Naida probed, eyeing Rosalyn’s book.

Rosalyn peered at Naida from across the room. “Of course it’s correct,” she said. “It’s worked before.”

Naida waved a hand around, dismissing the thought. “Oh, sure, I’m sure it’s worked,” Naida said. “But it’s probably not worked the best, if you don’t use goldenrod.”

As Rosalyn’s expression shifted from disbelief to curiosity, Naida smiled wide, leaning her elbows on the table. “Don’t tell me you’ve never thought to use goldenrod,” she said. 

Rosalyn scoffed, but a smile remained on her face. “I’ve never needed a potion strong enough for goldenrod,” she said. “I don’t get into as much trouble as you do.”

The goldenrod proved to be a tricky ingredient to add; goldenrod in Elvendale was much less reactive than it was in Rosalyn’s forest, and it made for a cacophony of mistakes. The place would be a mess to clean, but neither she nor Rosalyn really cared for that, not when they finally figured out the best mixture.

The room was a mess, by the end, and Naida thought they both deserved a breather before cleaning. She threw herself at one of Rosalyn’s chairs, stretching to relax. Rosalyn gave a passing glance at the mess, but couldn’t seem to resist the temptation of a nice, long rest.

The two of them sat in comfortable, successful silence, before Rosalyn said, “Things have been going better with Cronan.”

Naida smiled, though it felt a bit pinched, and she didn’t know why. “Back to the way they were?”

“Well, it’s getting better,” Rosalyn said. Then, with a smile Naida can’t quite decipher, she added, “I don’t think things have to be exactly the way they were before, though. I have you around.”

Naida’s ears felt hot, and so did her cheeks. “Maybe that’s better,” she said, her smile no longer pinched, and Rosalyn smiled back just as wide.


End file.
